For The Devil To Dance Again
by Frigid Waters
Summary: How far would you go for the woman you love? AU, no Storybrooke, it all takes place in a warped version of FTL. Character death.
1. Chapter 1

For The Devil To Dance Again

To all of those battered and suffering from the hurricane, my thoughts and prayers are with you. May you all be safe and sound in the oncoming dawn.

AU, no Storybrooke. It all takes place in my own convoluted view on the Fairy Tale Land universe.

It's Rated M for many reasons, Emma and Regina are in an established relationship.

This is going to be a long one... and by no means a sweet romantic fluff piece, there will be angst and maybe even tears as it progresses, sorry. There is also character death.

I own nothing and I think I have all the warnings out of the way.

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Chapter 1

People say the final kiss is always the sweetest. That the final touches are the most endearing and the last declarations of the heart the most truthful. They don't ever speak of the moments stolen, of those precious memories which never come to pass, of the destiny torn asunder.

Whispers are never heard of the disastrous pain that leads to a fall from grace. A word in sympathy for the devil that rises from the depths of hell, never uttered. A hell that they themselves sought salvation from, that they looked to you to walk into and save them from. They see only the tattered remains and the hollowed heart that emptiness fills with it's fog like mist. They see the scars, but not their depths, nor do they feel the blinding reminders of their infliction.

No, my would be countrymen see only my tainted virtue, my bloodied hands. Gone you see are the days of my title as the White knight. I am known now as the Devil's Bride or simpler still, Her Bitch.

"You should not judge me on my rise from the ashes alone," I begin. "But listen to my tale from beginning to end and if you are without reservation than I shall meet your punishment head on and without argument." I pause then, letting my challenge settle upon the ears of those listening. "Do we have a bargain then your Lieges?" The title dripping with animosity as it falls from my lips as I kneel in the dirt, tied like the dog they've made me to be.

The royals' curt nod silences any would be protests from those filling the courtyard behind me.

Silence greeting my ears as even the wind has died down in rapt attention of this tale, that none save a damned few know in it's entirety. Praying quietly to my late lover, I ask for her forgiveness in telling this tale. I know that even if I die today, all these people will know of her sacrifice and pain, they will know of who she truly was. Then and only then will they perhaps understand me and to the extremes I went for that love. To the depths I went for her willingly and the fact that i would do it all again, for her.

Swallowing roughly against the chains on my neck, licking my lips as i prepare to lay our life and love bare.

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I know it's short, but it's all my phone could upload. I'll make up for it in the next update. Again I hope for all of your safety and well being in the days ahead.

Frigid


	2. Chapter 2

For The Devil To Dance Again

Mar, if you're crying already, you are certainly going to be cursing me by the end. I'll FedEx you some Kleenex... and maybe another chapter of Rescue Me... How do you feel about chocolate?

Again, this is AU, there is no Storybrooke. It all takes place in my own convoluted take of Fairy Tale Land.

It's Rated M for many reasons, among them are death, bad language, torture, death, dirty evilness and happy/sad dirtiness. (You'll figure out what that means when you read it.)

Emma and Regina are in an established relationship.

There is also major character death

All errors are my own since nobody dares be my beta, lol, not that I blame anyone since I like to make up my own words.

Chapter 2

"You know of her lineage," I begin softly, searching the King and Queen's eyes for acknowledgment, not surprised in the least when I find little to none, her life truly was more legend than fact. "Her mother was a commoner, who desired to be anything but ordinary. Cora in her rise from the hovels of poverty, charmed her way into the arms of the town miller. At first she was happy with her new stature and wealth, but quickly her sights were drawn higher. Higher than a miller's wife could ever be granted and so nightly she would escape her confines and covet the lives of those above her. Soon those nightly jaunts into jealousy began to darken her material nature, turning it as bleak as the moonless night. It is said that on one such night, that even the stars dared not shine, that a creature came upon her. So pleased was he with her bastardized ambition, relentless greed and unrighteousness, that he took her. Claiming her body with his malevolence, impregnating her with his devious intent and thus paving the way for a child to grow within her barren loins. It was after their coupling that the creature gave of himself to her, in the form of a bargain struck. That should she return to her husband, bed him and carry the miller's seed, a fate of her own creating would be blessed upon her."

The wordless conversations passing unfettered behind me as the executioners hands readjusted their grasp on my chain leach, pulling slightly and cutting off the flow momentarily of my words and air, before I feel the weighted slack on my skin once more. "And Cora did his bidding," I continued. "She laid with her husband that night, his seed firmly planted as her mind began to churn, envisioning a future overwrought with power and wealth for herself."

Taking a deep breath, I give further words to the painful confessions of my late loves birth. "As the child grew within Cora, so did the villainous affair between it's mother and the Shadowed One begin to truly burn. For ten months they writhed together nightly, solidifying their bond and perverse need of each other. Each one impossibly darkening the others existence, since it is said that neither truly ever possessed a soul of their own."

My eyes dropping to the soaked ground before me, feeling the drying mud cracking across my skin. "On the night of the child's birth, nature fought itself. The sky itself became a calamity of lightening and torrential rains, the wind attempted to steal the very breath of the world as the earth quacked in retribution. The child, a girl born with eyes that were the epitome of innocence that darkened night seemed to silence the elements. They named her Regina at the Miller's behest, for she brought the calming dawn that night."

I falter then, losing myself to a memory.

_The weight of the castle walls quickly dissolving into those of the village surrounding it allowed me to breath deeply again. Gone momentarily were the stifling confines of royalty and the constricting role of princess. For all that I am to these people is another life on the road, another hand to aid and another coin to be had. To them I am an equal. The sight before me was truly riveting, my people going about their everyday tasks, neither impressed nor concerned with my presence. I envied them and their freedoms. Their lives were their own to govern, to come and go as they pleased, do as they liked, act as they willed. Theirs was a freedom I would never possess as royalty, I merely dabbled in it from time to time when I grew too restless behind the mighty stone walls. My escapes into the common life were an ill kept secret. Many times had the Captain of the Guard found me milling about and up to a tolerable amount of mischief. Though many times he had also found me aiding in the fields and foundries and more often still, on the hunt with the men. To my people I wasn't someone to be revered or bowed to, to them I was simply Emma._

_It wasn't long till my feet brought me to the edge of the fields. The crops had been bountiful this season so the harvest seemed never ending. After a conversation with one of the local farmers, I climbed aboard a wheat laden wagon, destined for a local mill in an adjacent town as ours was far to over ridden with work. The ride, anything but comfortable on the wooden seat if it could be called such, the fresh air making up for any discomfort. It wasn't more than a few hours till I pulled the ox drawn vessel up to the loading door. Dropping down from my perch and walking inside, my gate a little stiff from being in a set position for so long. As my eyes adjusted to the dim lighting in the dusty building, ever scanning for the Miller. A stout man with an infectiously calming smile turned to greet me._

"_You must be from Everlong." He spoke, his eyes combing my presence, as though wondering what to make of me. "Or very lost," he chuckled as though to an inside joke, the likes of which that only he knew._

"_You could be right on both accounts" I replied, playing along. "Though my ox seemed to know the way here."_

"_Your messenger arrived two days ago. You certainly must be suffering from an exceptional harvest if you can't keep up."_

"_There are worse things to suffer from." I countered as we walked out to gander over the quantity of wheat in the cart._

"_Yes, there certainly are." His voice had lowered then, as though he were somehow giving voice to a long harbored confession. My eyes casting their gaze to his face in time to see a ghosting of something painful cross it. I couldn't help but ponder in that moment at what haunted this seemingly kind and gentle man._

"_Father." A voice heralded from beyond the mill. The voice beckoning my head to rise as his did the same._

"_Daughter," in that moment the Miller's disposition changed from grimmest night to the brightest dawn. A smile alight his face as he walked towards her, both forms succumbing to a loving embrace as she followed his return to the wagon. "Regina my darling, this is..." His voice trailed off then, as though searching his mind for the answer._

"_Emma," I offered._

"_Regina, this is Emma. She comes from Everlong to use our mills."_

"_Ah yes, with fields flooded with grain..."_

"_The very same." I respond, taken aback by the glow of her skin in the near midday sun. Oh how it's rays shine aflame her chestnut hair and kiss her lips of deepest crimson. Gone in that moment was my breath and lost was my heart to her beauty._

"_I brought you lunch Father." She pulled her eyes from my own and with it my will to live._

_The miller proved his wisdom in that moment watching our interaction, withdrawing his ability to spare time to eat, offering instead the invitation for me to dine with Regina in his stead._

_I knew even then, sharing nothing more than a simple meal of bread, cheese and fresh apples that she would mean more to me than even the air to my lungs._

With a heavy heart I shook away the memory and continued. "Seasons passed for the forced family, the child growing under the loving care of her father, all but essentially ignored by the one person that was meant to be the most nurturing. Little did they both know that that ignorance was truly a blessing. They couldn't have foretold that the now reclusive Cora's attention would be the harbinger of monumental pain."

"Traitor!" The cry sounded from somewhere to the right, as my eyes sought out my accuser, I took sight of the onslaught of rock hurtling towards me. Unable to protect myself completely in my bound state, I turn my visage back away from the brunt of the blow, letting the forged mineral impact the side of my cheek instead. It's jagged edges expertly cutting my flesh like a hunting knife. The fresh sting signaling yet another mark that would never heal completely. 'Oh how I miss you My Love.'

The mere thought of her fingers upon my skin, pulling me down into my mind's eye, pulling forth my consciousness into a faded memory.

"_I hate that she did this to you Dear." The ire a flame in the statuesque brunette's gaze._

_Closing my eyes at her delicate touch upon my collarbone. The wound weeping, angry and raw, yet somehow soothed by her traveling fingers. "It will heal and fade in time..." I mumble, taking her fingers into my own, lacing them together as I bring her hand to my lips. "Just as the memory will. We made it, the worst is over Regina." _

_Her silence attesting to the simple serenity that had befallen us. Lost souls were we apart, and yet so formidable together. I couldn't help it even then, wounded and half dead, her lips beckoning like the first winter snow. Lowering our joined hands as I bring our mouths to touch unhurriedly, and without restraint. The taste of her lips and tongue allowing for the pain to vanish as all space between us disappearing. It was within her arms that I soared and to such heights would she take me. _

_The feel of her fingers tracing along the edges of my tattered armor, easing it down off my shoulders and onto the floor as her lips lay their healing kiss upon my bruised flesh. Pushing the pain to the furthest reaches of my mind as I lifted her weight and crossed the small distance to our bed. Needing to feel her, to taste her. Craving the affirmation of life only she alone could grant. _

_We paused then, both divesting each other of all traces of clothing before guiding our hands to the others form. Branding our bodies mutually with kisses of the purest desire and touches most sinful. Both bringing the other further upwards towards our mutual precipice as we collide in a time long dance of limbs and utterances. Vowing eternal love as our souls and bodies unite on an ethereal plane. Each claiming the other as our fingers glide easily within, our pace set as a marathon for release impetuously over the banks of physical limits. The feel of her warmth surrounding me, anchoring me to her as our release takes hold. Leaving both of us panting, our bodies utterly spent and melded together._

Little did we know in those few peaceful seasons how eternally wrong I was. Another tug on my leash allowing for my escape from my mind, bringing me back to reality.

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Let me know what you think.

Thanks a million,

Frigid


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